The world got a small taste of Georgia Tech golfer Ollie Schniederjans.
The U.S. amateur made a ferocious run up the leaderboard on the final day of the Open Championship at St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, Monday, shooting below 70 at the Open to finish tied for 12th.
Schniederjans (70-72-70-67) trailed only Jordan Spieth with 23 birdies throughout the tournament. His average drive was 318 yards.
It was an impressive charge for amateurs at St. Andrews. Six of the nine amateurs in the field broke par in the opening round. Three finished in the Top 20.
American Jordan Niebrugge finished as the low amateur with at 11-under performance, tying for sixth overall. British amateur Ashley Chesters finished behind Schniederjans at 9-under.
Amateur Patrick Dunne, who started the day tied for the lead, hit a final round 78 to finish 6-under and tied for 30th.
Schniederjans, 22, is just the third U.S. amateur in the last 50 years to make the cut at the U.S. Open and Open Championship - the last two were Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Schniederjans earned an exemption into the 2015 U.S. Open and the Open Championship as the No. 1-ranked amateury player for 2013-14.
Niebrugge, a 21-year-old senior at Oklahoma State from Wisconsin, wins the Open’s silver medal - awarded to the low amateur. Woods (1996) and Rory McIlroy (2007) are among the recent notables to win the coveted award.
At Tech, Schniederjans was the ACC Player of the Year as a junior and a senior. He is the sixth player in conference history to repeat, and a first-team All-American both years.
